Eyesore apartments get Bexar ax

By John W. Gonzalez :
March 4, 2013
: Updated: March 5, 2013 2:11am

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed high fives Pct. 4 County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson at the start of the demolition of two multi-family structures on Windsor Oaks in east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013. It is the latest effort in the ongoing Operation Clean Sweep. The operation was announced in October 2012 and targeted thirty locations mostly in the Camelot II and Windsor Oaks neighborhoods. According to a press release, owners brought 14 properties into compliance. The remaining owners have been charged with criminal violations of health and safety code. Adkisson had the honor of operating a front loader to kick off the demolition.

Photo By Photos by Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County Public Works Environmental Engineer Andrew Winter walks through one of two buildings scheduled for demolition by the county. Officials hope the demolitions send a message to owners of other derelict structures.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed talks with Pct. 4 County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson at the start of the demolition of two multi-family structures on Windsor Oaks in east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013.

Crews begin demolition of an apartment building in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood in east Bexar County. The owners failed to comply with county cleanup directives.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County Public Works Environmental Engineer Andrew Winter gives a tour of one of two buildings scheduled for demolition by the Bexar County District Attorney's office in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood in east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed smiles as Pct. 4 County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson gets the honor of starting demolition of two multi-family structures in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood of east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Trash covers the backyard a multi family structure scheduled for demolition in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood of east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013. The structures were ordered demolished through ongoing Operation Clean Sweep.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Crews demolition a multi-family structure in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood of east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County Public Works Environmental Engineer Andrew Winter gives a tour of one of two buildings scheduled for demolition by the Bexar County District Attorney's office in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood in east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Trash covers the yard a multi family structure scheduled for demolition in the Windsor Oaks neighborhood of east Bexar County, Monday, March 4, 2013. The structures were ordered demolished through ongoing Operation Clean Sweep.

Demolition began Monday on two trashed-out apartment buildings whose owners failed to comply with Bexar County cleanup orders.

County officials hope the drastic step sends a message to property owners who ignore health and safety laws and think they can avoid regulation outside city limits.

The targeted apartments are in the Windsor Oaks subdivision east of San Antonio. After years of complaints and legal wrangling, Commissioners Court last week ordered the demolitions and cleanup at the owners' expense — about $15,500 per building — in a process expected to take a month.

Emerging from a tour of one of the filthy structures, District Attorney Susan Reed said, “It's awful to think that exists in our community, but we're doing something about it.”

Neighbors poured out of their homes to view the commotion. From across the street, resident James Rayford was relieved to see the cleanup started.

“Maybe they'll rebuild and make the neighborhood a little better,” he said. “Some of the stuff has been sitting out for years.”

The two buildings were among 30 targeted for cleanup in Camelot II and nearby Windsor Oaks in a 2012 initiative led by Reed. Now 14 of the sites comply with health and safety laws, and owners of the rest were charged with criminal violations.

The county is asking state lawmakers to expand its authority to regulate nuisances, particularly in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. “Unfortunately, when the city stopped annexing, we were left with the very primitive tools that the state gives us, which do not allow us ... to enforce mandatory trash pickup,” County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson said.